Spectrum ST neck

Hello there,

I have a do-up project that I've been working on for years now, I mostly give up for a while due to frustration and then come back to it. Basically, I just want it to be playable again!

Long story short, the ST was a bit of a mangled wreck when I got it and have since attempted a refret but have written the neck off as firewood having had no success.

So, I figured maybe someone, somewhere has an ST neck they no longer need that I could use as a replacement - or even a neck from another model that would fit.
I'm even considering buying a strat type replacement neck with a paddle headstock that I can 'Spectrumify' kinda like the ones Mighty Mite make but that's getting a little pricey for a fixer-upper.

I have considered just buying another cheap ST, but I really just want to fix this one up rather than scrapping it.

Any advice or offers on a replacement neck would be most appreciated. I'll post some pics of its original state when I can remember where I stored them

eBay is your friend. There are always one or two necks there, and I think any Spec neck will do....

corsair wrote:eBay is your friend. There are always one or two necks there, and I think any Spec neck will do....

Thanks mate. I've done the obligatory eBay search and have set up a notification, so fingers crossed.

I believe you were the one that sent me a couple of spare ST parts many moons ago too. I don't want them to go to waste!

Do you think the ST would fit a Thunder or Concord neck? Or is it blasphemous to Frankenstein any Westone?

seeate wrote:...Do you think the ST would fit a Thunder or Concord neck? Or is it blasphemous to Frankenstein any Westone?

Sorry to hear of your neck problem, Spectrum has one of the finest necks out there and it's a shame to lose one.

I'd hold out for either a Spectrum or an Electra neck. Thunder and Concord I are 'G' scale (24 3/4") and wouldn't be a good match. I don't have measurements handy but I think Thunder necks are also a bit wider.

Concord II and III might be a possibility as they changed to 'F' scale. As I think about it some more I believe a Fender neck works also, but I don't know about the mounting holes.

Damian, you must have had some experience here?

Ah, yeah... Electra Phoenix necks should bolt right on - check the US eBay site 'cause the Electras were only available in the US.

actually, concord 1 is 24" scale

What's wrong with your neck? Most necks can be saved.

onno wrote:What's wrong with your neck? Most necks can be saved.

It probably can be saved by someone with reasonable luthier skills but that someone isn't me unfortunately.
The guitar as a whole was fairly well abused when I got it. I'm pretty confident I can restore the rest but the neck of course needs to be finished properly for the old beast to be playable - and that's some tricky stuff when trying to refret with limited tools and ability.
I really did give the refretting a good shot but it was like banging my head against a wall.

Alternatively I could always get a luthier to sort it out but I really don't want to fork out $300+ for what is essentially an inexpensive guitar... even for a Westone

That reminds me, I still need to hunt down those pics of its original state.

As promised, here are the photos I took when I first acquired the ST. It was pretty messed up to say the least!

https://imgur.com/a/SSiT4

"Grunge" would not be such a bad look as a concept, but without the actual abuse.
It really has had a bad time of it eh?

I can't tell too much about the neck though, but truthfully, it doesn't look so bad.

Well, I removed the old frets and sanded the neck back with a 10" radius block, which I may have gone a bit overboard with and shaved too much off. I just could not get the new frets (which were pre-radiused) to sit flush in the slots. This may be due to the slots now being too wide (having previously been refretted... badly).

It was more of a learning experience for me, to see if I could fix it myself. Sadly, no.

However, I might have sourced a replacement DX neck in good condition! Here's hoping, so I can actually make it playable again

If the fretslots are to wide, you can resize the tang of the fretwire. Or you can glue them in using superglue. Here's a manual for resizing the tang. http://www.stewmac.com/How-To/Trade_Secrets/When_frets_dont_fit_the_slot_resize_the_fret_tang.html They use a special tool, but you can make it yourself grinding down some old pliers.

Thanks for that onno. I did try glueing but had no luck there (it was a wood glue rather than superglue though). The StewMac advice is helpful but like you say, you need a crimper to widen the tangs effectively.
I may have another shot at the refret but for now I'm holding out for the replacement neck

A DX neck will do nicely, as long as you don't mind the model change on the head stock designation.

Do save the original though, they ain't making any more of 'em.